Animal charity will bequests challenged because seen as 'easy pot of money'

Families are challenging three times as many wills as the impact of the
recession bites, lawyers have warned, with disgruntled nephews and nieces
missing out on legacies in favour of donkey sanctuaries and cats’ homes.

7:00AM GMT 19 Jan 2013

Estates worth up to £1 million have been left to charities such as the RSPCA, leaving family members who were expecting an “easy pot of money” disappointed, Nicola Marchant, a contentious wills and probate lawyer, said.

Donkey sanctuaries, the RSPCA and PDSA are among the most common beneficiaries, as many charities have focused on bequests as a key way to raise funds while donations suffer in tough economic times.

Ms Marchant, of the law firm Pannone, said she had seen cases of relatives challenging legacies left to animal charities in wills treble over the last two years, increasing from one every other year in 2008 to around three a year in 2010 and around nine last year.

She said: “It doesn’t seem to matter whether the gift is only a few thousand pounds or the entirety of a £1 million-plus estate.

“It seems that in tough times, we are not quite the nation of animal lovers we once were.”

She went on: “It tends to be women who are leaving these requests, and while I have seen it with children, it is more often the aunties that are leaving it to the charities and the nephews and nieces who are very upset by the fact they have been excluded when they’re their only relative.

“Generally, as a whole, the contentious probate area has hugely increased since the recession. It’s across the whole spectrum of contentious probate and trusts, but in particular with animal charities.

“I think people see it as an easy pot of money and they can’t believe that in hard times the pot of money isn’t coming to the family.”

Challenges tend to happen most when the family member has a previous will in which their legacy was left to relatives, but changed their will shortly before their death in favour of animal charities.

“In about 90 per cent of cases, Aunt Molly has actually left it to the relatives in the past and has only just, in the last couple of years before her death, changed it entirely to the charity,” Ms Marchant said.

The disgruntled relatives will argue that that the family member did not have the capacity to change their will and, if successful, the previous will is then enforced.

But relatives wanting to mount a challenge should be prepared for a tough, expensive fight as charities often have a duty to do what they can to preserve money for their cause and rarely settle out of court.

Legacy income pays for one of every two animals the RSPCA saves, the charity said.

“The RSPCA and many other charities rely almost entirely on private donations - and legacy bequests are an important part of that,” a spokesman said.

“There have been anecdotal reports of slight rises in the number of challenges to these legacies. It is certainly fair to say that the legal processes around these bequests are becoming more complex.

“We remain immensely grateful to all those who remember the RSPCA and its work in their will and to their family and friends who respect their loved one’s wishes.”